Hundreds say goodbye to Jasper Howard

Huskies attend Fla. funeral to pay tribute to slain teammate

By Manny Navarro, Correspondent

Published
11:45 pm EDT, Monday, October 26, 2009

UConn football coach Randy Edsall speaks at the funeral for Jasper Howard, Monday, Oct. 26, 2009 in Miami. Howard, a member of the UConn football team, was fatally stabbed outside a dance on Connecticut's campus. (AP Photo/J Pat Carter) less

UConn football coach Randy Edsall speaks at the funeral for Jasper Howard, Monday, Oct. 26, 2009 in Miami. Howard, a member of the UConn football team, was fatally stabbed outside a dance on Connecticut's ... more

Photo: J Pat Carter, AP

Photo: J Pat Carter, AP

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UConn football coach Randy Edsall speaks at the funeral for Jasper Howard, Monday, Oct. 26, 2009 in Miami. Howard, a member of the UConn football team, was fatally stabbed outside a dance on Connecticut's campus. (AP Photo/J Pat Carter) less

UConn football coach Randy Edsall speaks at the funeral for Jasper Howard, Monday, Oct. 26, 2009 in Miami. Howard, a member of the UConn football team, was fatally stabbed outside a dance on Connecticut's ... more

Photo: J Pat Carter, AP

Hundreds say goodbye to Jasper Howard

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NORTH MIAMI, Fla. -- One by one, they came to shed tears, share memories and say goodbye.

Several hundred people gathered Monday inside the New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in North Miami to celebrate the life of Jasper Howard, the former Miami Edison football and track star fatally stabbed last week outside a dance at the University of Connecticut.

"He was the ultimate son, the ultimate brother, the ultimate teammate and the ultimate friend," UConn coach Randy Edsall said. "And he was going to be the ultimate husband."

Howard's mother, JoAngila Howard; his father Alex Moore, two younger sisters and his pregnant 18-year-old girlfriend, Daneisha Freeman, sat near his dark blue coffin as others spoke about him.

Flanked next to the family was the entire UConn football team, which arrived in four large white buses wearing blue and white ribbons with the initials JH and 6 (Howard's uniform number) pinned to their suit jackets.

Linebacker Kijuan Dabney, Howard's first college roommate, read a long poem written by the team entitled "UConn's Angel."

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Howard, who grew up avoiding trouble on the tough streets of Little Haiti, chose seemingly safe Storrs, Conn., to pursue his athletic and academic dreams three years ago.

What is unclear is who killed Howard. What is clear is that the 20-year-old young man -- who was on track to graduate with a sociology degree and aspired to reach the NFL and take care of his family, including his unborn daughter -- is now gone.

"Auntie Pooh, Jazz was one step away from his dream," FIU cornerback Anthony Gaitor told Howard's mother during an emotional speech. "I promise you, I'm going to go get it for him, for all of us."

Howard, a junior, had the best game of his career against Louisville on the afternoon of Oct. 17. Not long after, family and friends began text messaging him when his highlights appeared on ESPN's SportsCenter. Hours later, Howard was stabbed in the stomach. He bled to death in the arms of two teammates.

Monday, Howard was dressed in a light blue suit with blue and gray football gloves similar to those he wore on the field for the Huskies. When his coffin was closed, the tears began to flow freely.

"I remember the first time I saw Jazz, he had his dreads hanging, shorts and sandals on with no socks," Huskies receiver Kashif Moore said. "He liked to make people laugh.

While Connecticut police spent the weekend searching storm drains and a lake near where Howard was stabbed, no one has been charged with his murder yet.

"Sometimes, people think this can't happen to college football players. But this just shows you it can, and we have to appreciate life," said University of Miami cornerback Brandon Harris, who attended the funeral with receiver Davon Johnson.

"Knowing the type of person Jazz was -- motivated to take care of his family -- it's sad. He left Miami for change, and this happened. It definitely shows this can happen anywhere, not just Miami."

Howard, who grew up playing at Liberty City Optimist, had a wide range of friends -- many of them football players -- who spoke at the funeral. His former high school coach Corey Bell, now the director of football operations at UM, was among the more than dozen speakers who stepped up to the podium.

"I told him I was proud of him, that I loved him," Bell said of his private conversation with Howard at Sunday's viewing. "One thing about Jazz, he always stayed focused, humble and hungry -- all the things you tell them as you coach them. You wonder if they listen. But you know he did."

Two pictures of Howard, one signed by the University of Miami football team and the other signed by members of Clemson's football program, were displayed near the casket along with several floral arrangements.

Edsall, who had to call Howard's mother to tell her of the tragedy, remembered how Howard came to him as a freshman worried about his family back home. He said Howard pleaded with him about returning home "to take care of them." But Edsall said he convinced him being the first person in his family to graduate from college would be the best way to do it.

"It's unfortunate his daughter won't be able to know him," Moore said. "But we'll have a lot of stories to tell her. She'll have 105 uncles -- I promise you that. We'll all miss Jazz."